Brewing my first beer in five years is a solid sign that we’re really settling in to our new home here in South Carolina!

My fifteenth homebrew over all, I decided once again to try my hand at a “big” beer. Previous attempts, even odd attempts, still produce “normal” ABV. So this time, I based my recipe off one in Extreme Brewing.

I must say, I love living in Greenville. We have lots of great homebrewing resources. It having been five years, I needed to replace some supplies. I was even able to add kegging equipment for the first time ever in my brewing. The folks at Upstate Craft Beer Company and Thomas Creek were amazing. I also got helpful advice and supplies at The Southern Growl and Grapes & Grain.

I used the Imperial Stout recipe from Avery Brewing but had to make changes given the reality of local supplies. Like all the previous brews, this was a partial mash. Here’s the recipe I used.

Palmetto Winter Solistice Imperial Stout – a partial mash

Mash

5 gallons of water and 2 grain bags

Steep

6 oz Cara 10 malt

5 oz Black malt

5 oz Chocolate malt

5 oz Dehusked Carafa III

12 oz Honey malt

12 oz Cara 60 malt

Preboil

12 lbs of extract

2 x 3.3 lbs can CBW Traditional Dark

2 x 1 lb Dry Briess Dark Traditional

2 x 1 lb Dry Briess Sparkling Amber

Boil

3/4 lb Turbinado crystals (60 min)

1/2 oz Magnum Hops (60 min)

1/2 oz Magnum Hops (30 min)

1.5 oz Sterling Hops (end of boil)

Fermentation

Wyeast 1056
One week later I added another Wyeast 1056.

OG: 1.100

FG: 1.029

ABV 9.3%

Very pleased

I’m quite pleased. Not only did I learn about brewing big beers, but I learned about kegging! This was such a good experience – and such a great beer – I’m already making plans for my next beer. 🙂

Place one crust in a pie pan and put in oven for 8-10 minutes until somewhat brown.

Spoon stew into pie and cover with second crust. (I cut slits in the top of the second crust.)

Cook in oven for 15-20 minutes until brown.

Let sit for a few minutes. Then cut and enjoy!

The Pitman Imperial Stout Meat Pie is definitely a great pie. I liked the mushroom mix I picked up at the new Lowe’s grocery store near us. It included shiitake and oyster mushrooms. Next time I will probably sprinkle on cheddar cheese before putting the second crust on top.

As the kids were growing up, when they’d do something slightly naughty or disrespectful we often asked ourselves, “Will this be cute in ten years?”

It wasn’t hard to guess. Emily was the assistant house mother for around 40 teenage girls. And there were a couple hundred teenagers at the boarding school. We could easily imagine our kid’s behavior in “teenage clothes” and realize that it wasn’t something we wanted to encourage.

Sure they’re human. But they are nice humans

In thinking about our dinner last night, I remembered that “Will this be cute in 10 years” question. Sure, our kids are human. Like the rest of us so they have good days and bad days. But I’m really glad we asked that question all those years ago. Because our kids are a delight.

And if you’re interested in that last song…here it is. You can’t un-hear it.

“While other people wandered the mall wondering, our kids were following a calling.”

My friend Jon Swanson wrote this about the treasure hunt they led their kids on in a mall. But today, I’d encourage you to take a second look at the wandering person you care most about. Could it be that they are following a calling that you simply don’t understand?

Wandering and following may look the same from the outside

They might not understand the calling either. They may just be trying hard to figure out the next clue. And they may be feeling incredibly lonely and exposed doing it.

Might that help turn your with and nagging to kindness and trusting silence this Advent?

Since it’s basically a turkey and cheese sandwich, I tried one with mustard. That made a nice lunch.

Thoughts for the next time I make the Thanksgiving Leftovers Savory Muffins

These are moister than the normal chocolate chip and oat muffins I make every week. Next time I will let the muffins cool out of the muffin tin but on the wire rack before putting them on a plate.

Also, next time I will try using vegetable oil instead of melted butter. And I think I’ll add more cranberry sauce – the sweetness was nice. (I didn’t want to over do it this time and was very pleased that none of the sauce leaked out!)

To see more goofy pictures of the Lego muffin guy, look out for the #weeklymuffin on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.

There are so many surprises on the journey of entrepreneurship. One of them is with all the fees you can end up paying!

I knew I wanted to be able to take credit cards for my FundraisingCoach.com work. But when I signed up for a merchant account, no one warned me about the “gotchas”! Between the bank, the merchant account, Authorize.net, and the credit card companies, there were lots of opportunities for fees. I wonder if all the layers re to make these fees seem less significant. And these fees were removed automatically from my bank account. I know it’s the cost of doing business but I didn’t like the roller coaster ride. I’d see sales happen so I’d think I’d made a certain amount of money. But there was less in my account than I expected due to them taking fees out multiple times a month.

A few months ago, I started with Infusionsoft Payments. One thing I love about Infusionsoft Payments is how straightforward it is. What is sent to my account is mine to keep. No games, no gotchas.

And no gotchas lets me focus on what I love doing: helping my clients and creating new content!